Standing in line to vote

So much for the predicted slow turnout in this off-year election. No way was that the case in at least one election district in the West Albany neighborhood of Colonie.

“It’s been very steady, better than we thought it would be,” elections Inspector June Maniscalco said shortly before 5 p.m., speaking for both the 46th and 47th Election Districts at the West Albany Fire Station on Sand Creek Road.

In the 47th, where Maniscalco was helping man the table, 205 people had voted by 4:45 p.m. out of 283 registered in that district.

“People have been standing in line (to vote) for a good part of the day,” she said. “And, we still have four more hours to go.”

Maniscalco is a nursing home activist who’s familiar to Albany County lawmakers for her frequent appearances at the public forum sessions before the start of County Legislature meetings. She has a loved one at the nursing home and has been one of those responsible for getting people involved in the family council, made up of people who have someone at the facility.

An enrolled Republican, Maniscalco was working as a Republican inspector but said she votes for the “person not the party.”